I thought you all might be interested in this video of Cornel West talking with Craig Ferguson about the courage it takes to publicly, collectively face the uglier aspects of our history.
2 thoughts on “Cornel West on public history”
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wow! I love Cornel West. I missed him when he came to Boise State. So unfortunate.
On January 25, 2010, I attended Dr. West’s presentation at BSU, below is a small part of my summary I wrote for one of my courses.
Dr. West’s address on Monday, January 25th introduced the week of MLK Dream Alive Workshops at BSU. He was an excellent choice to speak to BSU students because of his area of study and his many published books that include themes of: racism, faith, and democracy. During Dr. West’s speech he talked about a variety of topics including; materialism, humanity, socioeconomic issues, Hurricane Katrina, the stock market, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Israel/Palestine conflict. His use of humor and storytelling during his speech was engaging and entertaining. He used an example of from “womb to tomb” to symbolize that we all have a common connection and ties to humanity. Dr. West speaks about racial issues in an informative matter, but also in a way that will convey to people from any ethnic background. I also found his use of faith during his speech welcome but it was not preachy, he was expressing his beliefs but not telling others they were right or wrong. Dr. West also spoke about MLK and that he didn’t say to be “color blind,” rather MLK wanted people to appreciate and respect cultural differences and to cohabitate peacefully.